1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sport fishing and, more particularly, to an improved fishing seat for use on sport fishing boats. More particularly still this invention relates to a coordinated fishing pole holder and seat assembly for facilitating so-called "pumping," or back-and-forth movement, of a fishing pole to draw game fish close to a boat in a fatigued state in order, ultimately, to facilitate landing of such fish.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In fishing for so-called game fish such as for example, swordfish in temperate as well as tropical waters, marlin and sailfish, typically in tropical and semi-tropical waters, and tuna in both tropical and northern waters, as well as other large fish, it is customary for the fisherman to be seated in a so-called fishing or fighting chair at the stern of a deep-water fishing boat. Such chair is designed to provide a secure, stable seat to aid the fisherman in drawing a hooked fish into the vicinity of the boat where such fish can be dispatched and then landed or brought into the boat in either an exhausted or expired condition, in which state the fish is unlikely to do any serious damage to the boat or crew by thrashing about.
A large game fish can exert a considerable back pull against a hook in its mouth by back paddling as well as swimming transversely of the fishing line extending between the fisherman's fishing rod and the fish. Fishing rods, in general, have been developed to provide leverage with respect to both casting of the line away from shore or from a boat and also in setting the hook in the mouth of the fish. While these functions could be carried out using nothing but the leverage provided by the forearm of the fisherman, it has been found convenient when fishing, both from the shore and from the deck of a boat, to increase the available leverage by use of a pole which essentially serves as an extension of the forearm of the fisherman. Such extension essentially increases the available leverage with respect to the rapidity of movement at the end of the pole, thus increasing the extent of movement available with a small quick movement of the arms and wrists of the fisherman and, therefore, the quickness and extent of movement available at the hook end of the line. Such increased quickness and extent or scope of overall movement of the line with relatively small movements of the hands and arms of the fisherman considerably increases the control the fisherman is enabled to exert upon the line and its attached lure as well as upon a hooked fish. In fact, with considerable line in the water, inherent slack in the line may make the use of a pole a necessity in order to attain sufficient scope of movement of the line to enable the fisherman to make any quick adjustments of the hook and/or of the line at all, since a considerable part of the movement applied to the line by the fisherman is expended in taking up slack in the line. Such inherent slack may be either vertical slack caused by gravity acting upon the line resulting in intermediate sinking of the line and creating a downwardly curved arc between the pole and the lure at the end of the line and/or horizontal slack caused by transverse swimming of the fish or extraneous transverse currents. Actual stretching of the line caused by resilience of the line may also play a part in producing slack in the line. As a result, any movement by the fisherman at the pole end of the line is partially dissipated in first taking up part of the slack so that a large movement of the line at the fisherman's end is necessary to effect a fairly small immediate movement at the other end of the line.
On the other hand, the leverage available to the fish through the pole is also considerable because of the length of the pole providing leverage that results in a relatively small fish being able to exert a considerable force on the hands and arms of a fisherman This leverage results in considerable fatigue in the fisherman merely from resisting the pull of the fish. Since the fisherman must also usually exert constant tension on a fish to avoid loss of such fish by displacement of the hook or snapping of the line, the leveraged force of the fish upon the fisherman is almost constant When it comes time to reel in a fish, a small fish will merely be reeled in by turning the reel, relying upon the leverage provided by the diameter of the reel versus the length of the reel handle. However, only relatively little power is available, since only the small muscles of the hand and forearm of the fisherman are available to turn the reel and the leverage provided by the handle is relatively small. It is customary, therefore, in reeling in large fish both to the shore and to a boat, to reel while gradually lowering the pole to relieve or offset the leverage available to the fish as well as to relieve possible excess tension on a light line and then, while temporarily ceasing actual reeling, to raise the tip of the pole, exerting a rearward force (with respect to the fisherman) or forward force (with respect to the fish) on the line with the arms, and to some extent, with the back muscles of the fisherman by leaning back. This serves to draw the fish toward the fisherman. The pole will then be slowly lowered while reeling in as fast as possible and then after the pole has been brought almost horizontal or to whatever angle is comfortable to the fisherman, again ceasing reeling and drawing or rotating the pole backward again with the action of the arms, and particularly the forearms as powered by the biceps muscles in the arms of the fisherman supported or backed up by the large muscles in the shoulders of the fisherman.
Thus, whether from the shore or from shipboard, when fighting or landing a fish, the same general pattern of pivoting the fishing rod backward while ceasing reeling and then rapidly reeling as the pole is gradually lowered is followed. Since larger fish can frequently be approached more closely and hooked, however, only from a boat, and a boat may at times not provide a very stable platform from which to work or fish, it is frequently found that a fishing chair is almost a necessity to effectively play a fish, although some fishermen still prefer to stand on deck as much as possible while playing a fish. In addition, the strength of most fisherman's arms is relatively insufficient to bring in a large fish, particularly over a long period of time on a light line, which light line is frequently felt to be more sporting. Consequently, various ways of using some of the larger muscles of the body, particularly of the legs as aids to or even replacements for arm and shoulder muscles, have been both sought and devised.
It has, therefore, become customary for a fisherman for large game fish to sit in a heavy chair at the stern or on the aft deck of a sport fishing boat where such fisherman is not only more comfortable, but more secure than he or she would otherwise be. Such chair is denoted either as the fishing chair or "fighting" chair and is usually pivotably mounted upon a pedestal. A conventional "fighting" chair has a back and a seat from which there extends a foot rest to enable the fisherman to brace himself or herself while straining backward against a struggling fish. Usually a rod holder is mounted in the front surface of the chair between the legs of the fisherman. The butt of the fishing rod can be rested in such rod holder which provides a pivot point from which the rod can be moved in an arc back and forth as a fish is reeled in or otherwise drawn closer to the boat. Occasionally dual rod holders are provided on both sides of the fighting chair for preliminary support of two fishing rods with line out. A conventional fighting chair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,289 to Esposito. The rod holder may be a separate cylindrical container arranged to pivot back and forth while reeling in the fish, such movement provided to the rod being sometimes referred to as "pumping" the rod.
Fighting or reeling in a large game fish is a strenuous exercise as well as time consuming and it is not uncommon for fighting or playing a large fish on a light line to take from forth-five minutes to one-and-a-half hours and sometimes as much as five-to-eight hours or occasionally even more. During this entire period of time, the fisherman will be keeping tension in the line by pulling back on the pole in opposition to the fish. As explained above, the leverage of the pole is against the fisherman and in favor of the fish, although the fisherman has the advantage when quickness of response to movements of the fish is considered. Consequently, the playing of a large game fish places a great deal of tension in the arms and shoulders of the fisherman. The fish not only, as indicated above, has the advantage in leverage of the pole but is also, if anything, usually in better shape than the fisherman. In the nature of things, there are relatively fewer overweight, out of shape game fish in the ocean than fishermen in sport fishing boats upon the ocean. The arms and shoulders of the fisherman, in particular, therefore become quickly fatigued.
As a result, big game fishing is often a truly exhausting sport. Not surprisingly, there have been a number of suggestions for transferring some or all of the stress of pulling back on the pole from the arms to other parts of the body of the fisherman such as the large muscles of the legs which are relatively strong as a result of normal support of the weight of the fisherman's body. Fishing chairs have been devised, therefore, where the seat on the chair or else the entire chair can be moved back and forth by the force of the legs upon a foot rest or stop. Movement of the seat in this manner with the fisherman upon it serves to also move the rod and reel held by the fisherman or supported partially or even wholly by the rod holder at the same time applying considerable tension through the pole into the line. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,676 to Arruza. Other arrangements enable the legs of the fisherman to pivot the pole holder in a vertical plane by pushing on a foot rest or stop with the feet. A device of this nature is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,180 to Mandolare and also U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,916 to Quartullo. A further arrangement of this nature is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,963 to Dionne which uses a narrow saddle seat which takes up less room than the conventional wide chair and incorporates a swinging foot rest mounted on the front of the seat or on the lower support sections of the seat. Pressure of the feet on the swinging or pivoting foot rest serve to move a cylindrical rod holder mounted on the opposite end of the foot rest and aid in moving a rod holder during playing a fish.
While prior devices for decreasing the fatigue of a fisherman by increasing the ease with which tension may be applied to the fishing line, particularly by use of the large muscles in the legs and the body, have experienced some success, none has been completely satisfactory. Consequently, there has been a need for an improved fishing chair which is not only less tiring to the fisherman, but more convenient in applying tension to the fishing line and which is compact and convenient to use both on large and small boats, as well as economical to produce.